Formula One fans may get three fewer F1 races in a year from 2022

The high-octane Monaco Grand Prix will have its status as a three-day event reduced back to a weekend from 2022 after the Monaco Tourism Company requested that F1 agree to the change, race’s CEO said Thursday.

“We are looking to reduce the number of days and so we are working to reduce from three days to one or two days,” said F1’s chief executive Chase Carey during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “The benefit of that is it gives more flexibility to our teams.”

Carey said the Monaco GP had reached its quota of potential commercial commitments in terms of spectators, sponsors and the demand for the track.

Carey’s comments came after the inaugural event was moved back a week from June 26 to May 25 in 2018, a move that will be adopted for next year and beyond.

“We’re looking to stay within the season,” Carey said. “If you do long events you have to be committed for a long period of time and if there is a shortage of sponsors who want to be associated with the brand in a big way that’s a problem. But the principle is to do the races in a strong fashion.”

That would appear to mean a return to its previous format of a Monaco GP weekend featuring three practice sessions, qualifying and a main event with the winner declared on Sunday afternoon in the traditional free practice session.

The original weekend of racing in Monte Carlo will be reduced from three days to two, leaving an extra day available for the 2019 race date.

In August, F1 and its new owners Liberty Media announced a major revamp of the Formula One format, including the introduction of an opener in China followed by three rounds in Melbourne, Russia and Azerbaijan.

The latter, however, will be retained as an additional round next year to mark the launch of a new version of the car.

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